The SF Bay Area Theatre Blog

About theatre around the SF Bay Area and beyond, including lots of focus on 42nd Street Moon theatre and its productions.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Cool site with archived video performances

got an email from esteemed Foothill Music Theatre artistic director and all-around theatre guru Jay Manley. asked me if I knew a site called BlueGobo. I was chagrined to admit that I, the online diva, had no idea of BlueGobo's existence!

BlueGobo is: "an archive of musical theatre performances on video. Browse the archive categorized by show title and discover clips from the 1950s to today."

I'm sure you can imagine that you could spend hours browsing its archives.

In this case he sent me a video of Lisa Kirk singing "The Gentleman is a Dope" from Allegro on the Ed Sullivan Show. That's the role I played and the song I sung when Jay directed me in Allegro, now over ten years ago...yikes!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Have you seen the cast for Young Frankenstein?!

Wow.

OK, maybe no one can substitue for Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr and Peter Boyle, but check out the casting for the impending Broadway musical version of the mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein.

-Fantasia? She is just amazing, isn't she? She really was the only part of last night that hit me emotionally. She has so much passion when she sings, and so much connection. I have no idea if she can act during the book scenes, but I know she must act the hell out of every moment she's singing.

-Has David Hyde Pierce always been out? I mean actually out, not everyone just assuming he's out. He gave a charming speech, I must say. But Curtains looked a bit dreary to me.

-Why did Karen Ziemba never become a big, huge Broadway star? I have always loved her, but I don't think she's gotten the roles she deserves.

-Billy Crudup....rowwwrrrr

-There was something kind of mean about John Mahoney and Jane Krakowski mocking those ATWW folks, wasn't there? I didn't really find it too funny, considering the real folks were behind the chandelier listening to everyone laughing at a parody of them.

-Is this Audra McDonald's first Tony loss? I think she may have been four for four before last night. She's a fantastic star...

-Having a host would be way better than having those weird pre-commercial "teasers."

All in all I thought the show was one of the worst-produced Tony Awards I had seen in a while. The presenter "banter" was so very tedious and patronizing.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

The NY Times makes Tony predictions

Among them: that Spring Awakening is practically a lock for Best Musical and a slew of other awards. Of course, that makes me nervous. It's a little more fun to have low expectations (like I did for Avenue Q's chances) that get exceeded, than to have high expectations that get dashed.

Christine Ebersole is also supposedly a lock for her performance in Grey Gardens. If she wins I swear it is for a 30-second silent moment she has 5 minutes before the end of the show. The rest of it is pretty typical Broadway pizzaz.

And that is all the commentary I can really offer. I'm really looking forward to the show, so I can see scenes from more shows and musicals.